Sustainability | EnvironmentReduce Risks of Chemical Use
Our Approach
Management of Chemical Substances in Products
In 2004, TDK introduced the "Environmental Product Quality Management System" (EPQMS) as a system to prevent and control exposure to hazardous substances in products that threaten human health and the environment, and we operate it within our Quality Management System (QMS).
Management of Chemical Substances in Manufacturing Processes
We are promoting management of chemical substances globally by means of common guidelines with the goals of understanding the hazardousness and danger of chemical substances, and improving safety in their handling in compliance with each nation's laws and the like.
In addition, we are moving forward on reducing the use and emissions of hazardous or dangerous chemical substances in order to reduce their impact on the environment as well as to mitigate the health risks to employees and risks of fires or explosions.
Goals and Achievements
| Fiscal 2023 Goal | Achievement |
|---|---|
| To promote the management of chemical substances globally by means of common guidelines and raise awareness in-house about the situation surrounding regulated chemical substances. | We have begun operation of uniform guidelines on the use of chemical substances, and initiated training on the management of chemical substances for development engineers. To coincide with this we have newly established a company intranet to share information on chemical substances. |
Evaluations and Future Activities
We have succeeded in laying the foundations for in-house awareness-raising on management of chemical substances through the start of operations of the unified guidelines, the implementation of training for development engineers, and the establishment of the new website to share information on chemical substances.
Going forward, we will expand the scope of the training for development engineers and deliver basic training on chemical substances for general employees to further promote in-house awareness-raising.
| Fiscal 2024 Goal |
|---|
| Ongoing promotion of in-house awareness-raising through expansion of the scope of training for development engineers and implementation of basic training for general employees. |
Management of Chemical Substances in Products
In the context of the increased stringency of laws and regulations and international conventions relating to the management of chemical substances in products, including the EU’s RoHS Directive and REACH Regulation, China’s RoHS management regulations, the United States’ TSCA regulations and the UN’s POPs Convention, the TDK Group complies with domestic and international laws and regulations as well as customer requirements, implementing initiatives aimed at “delivering products with low environmental load.”
TDK complies with the RoHS Directive for all its products1 and, as an early response measure, instituted a prohibition on the use in its products of the four phthalate esters2 banned under the directive on July 22, 2018, a year in advance of the directive becoming legally effective.
1. Excluding some products based on customer specifications
2. DEHP, BBP, DBP, and DIBP
We introduced the Environmental Product Quality Management System (EPQMS) in 2004, as a mechanism to further maintain and guarantee these initiatives, and it is currently in operation as part of the Quality Management System (QMS). As a component manufacturer positioned in the midstream of the supply chain, this system ensures thorough prevention and control at each of the stages of “buying”, “creating,” and “selling.”
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